Tight deadline, small (but beautiful) collection of photos (by Kevin Weinstein). What could we pull together for a showing—in six days—and really make the most of Staci’s outstanding attention to detail?
Instead of trying to squeeze it all onto one card, we decided to create a set of three. Interested buyers could take a favorite, or more.
For speed, it was going to have to be a digital press. We’re thankful for E&T Graphics Los Angeles, who had it printed, beautifully trimmed, and ready for pickup in a day.
Back to the Future Electrics is a new electric bike distributer. The client wanted to take inspiration from the past, as well as from the idea that electric motors are an idea whose time has returned.
During the kickoff meeting, he mentioned the possibility of pop-up shops, and a vintage step-van he had his eye on. One of my challenges was to gracefully integrate a jagged electric bolt into the flowing script.
No surprise (to me) that our corner of the world was among those designated by Mayor Eric Garcetti to be a Los Angeles Great Street.
As a member of the Pico Great Street Collaborative and the PGSC Urban Design Committee, I’m drawing from the neighborhood’s diverse social and architectural identity and contributing design input to facets including signage, infographics and grant applications.
My strategy has been to first lock on to the existing Great Streets visual identity, and then gradually evolve that toward reflecting Pico’s unique qualities. This allows the initiative to leverage public recognition as support and funding are developed, and more importantly, to listen carefully: it’s both our pride and our challenge to be one of Los Angeles’ most culturally and racially diverse communities.
The infographic below was adapted for use as a poster in participating shops, as an online outreach tool, and as a supporting document in grant applications.
Because this is a volunteer project, I am delivering assets as the need arises, rather than as a pre-packaged system. All the better to allow a complex identity and its future vision to be discovered, defined and redefined over time.
Wide and experimental pattern range for interior design client, Christel Ferguson.
I developed patterns, exploring a variety of styles that ranged from hand-drawn and loose to traditional and quite rigid. We explored trend colors as well as Christel’s own particular tastes, and researched fabrication options that included both hand-embroidered and the latest print-on-demand technologies.
The Undercard Show is a new Thailand-based media channel, focusing on lesser-known, up-and-coming mixed martial arts (MMA) contenders. Expat founder Jeffrey Murphy is deeply immersed in the culture and needed a bold face forward that also reflects the grit, camaraderie and untamed atmosphere of living and training in Phuket.
I researched the pro and amateur MMA industries, getting a feel for their cultures, shared aesthetics, and values. I also connected directly with undercard MMA athletes—dedicated men and women who are always training and living for their next match.
For the Undercard identity, I proposed a shape we could beat up and push around, and that wouldn’t take itself too seriously. I expect (and want) it to be scraped, torn and of course, animated. I found inspiration in 70s action shows, as will as Shinichirô Watanabe’s brilliant animated series, Cowboy Bebop (1998-2001).
As Jeffrey pulls content together, I designed, coded and uploaded a simple (and responsive—different background photos display on different platforms) splash page, and wired the signup form to an email list. Most site users are, and will be, visiting from their phones.
TOK Media produces live discussion, networked polls, and content platforms that publishers can embed into their existing websites. The concept was well developed, but needed the UI to accommodate its next round of feature updates. Also, to give it the credibility that would help sell it to publishers, it needed a more polished look and feel.
As project lead, I worked with the founder and lead developer. In addition to their detailed notes and numerous meetings, I researched existing paid content models and participated in the TOK platform to understand the product and user behavior.
I wireframed interactions for the multi-platform experience, produced many, many interactive prototypes, and then nailed down visual details with Photoshop.
One of the more interesting challenges was finding a way for poll users to scale the number of voters they could view. The example below shows the two most extreme views—as few as a dozen voters and as many as 1,216 voters (color-grouped by their vote).
I first developed this dusky colorway for my gems series (below), and have been trying it out on a few newer patterns. I would also love to see this pattern in wrought iron!
The Camp Forever brand is a new project from Tamara Muro, founder of Velvet, the award winning New Orleans espresso bars and vintage trailer pop-up shops. Inspired by a three-month unplugged stint in the Southwest, she conceived the new business name, as well as the brand-defining statement, your tribe is your home, and got in touch to discuss the visuals, including logo and ecommerce site.
We decided to use Shopify, which is theme-based. Tamara agreed to my recommendation of a well-built and feature rich theme, which allowed the team to quickly become self-reliant, but still left plenty of room for code-level customization of the design.
The ModelMayhem Shop taps a range of commerce partnerships, offering products that are relevant to the industry, as well as specifically to the MM community. These include:
Simple affiliate-style partnerships, such as an MM-branded Nextag feed
Comp cards and headshots, for which I designed a variety of templates, as well as the interface for product customization and order/transaction flow.
I’ve done extensive UI/UX work for features throughout the ModelMayhem website, including a completely new subsite, Modelmayhem EDU. Contact me for project details.
A selection of social media posters created for a neighborhood café.
I took the food and kitchen photos, researched the others, established the brand tone and wrote/found the copy.
